Royalty
by thndrnlghtnng
Summary: Konoha's council is making changes. Tsunade's out and the Fire Country's estranged princess is in. Will the council have the control they've always wanted through her, or will their plan fail? AU/Non-Massacre. Probably SasukexOC
1. Chapter 1

AN: Originally I had a prologue for this story, but as I type this first chapter I just found myself explaining things all over again in what I thought was a more interesting way, and so I decided to scrap the prologue and jump right in. I'm always happy to clear up any questions that you may have, and if you think that a descriptive prologue of some sort will explain things better, please let me know.

This story is an obvious AU and Non-Massacre. For this story Itachi is 21 and an ANBU Captain. Sasuke, Naruto, Sai, and Sakura are all 16 and have all VERY recently reached the status of Jounin.

I hope you all enjoy and that I don't confuse you too terribly!

**Chapter One: A Whole New World**

"Do you think she'll be hot?" Naruto asked, fidgeting endlessly as he waited with Cell 7 for the ship carrying their princess to enter the harbor.

"Naruto…you're already in a relationship…with a man. I don't think her attractiveness should really matter to you," Sakura pointed out dryly, rolling her eyes.

"I can still appreciate beauty, Sakura-chan," Naruto responded hastily, beginning to pace in front of the group.

"Careful Dickless, I may get jealous and have to kill our new princess before she ever even sees her village," Sai commented from his position on his back. He was lying on top of the railing the other three ninja were leaning against.

"Like I care," Naruto responded with a shrug. "It's Baa-chan's position anyways and we shouldn't be giving it to some dumb outsider anyways, even if she is royalty. She probably didn't even know until they told her. Did your brother say anything about her, Teme."

"No. He told me it was classified since he was on a mission when he met her."

The whistle from the ship interrupted any further conversation and the shinobi widened their senses in case of enemy ninja as they watched the ship's crew lower the gang plank.

"Guess you'll find out about your question soon , Dobe," Sasuke finally responded to Naruto's earlier question as he adjusted his hitae-ate. Both he and Naruto, as well as Sakura had adopted to wearing them similar to belts, so that the metal banding dipped over their right thighs.

"She'd better be hot because she's got nothing else going for her. Probably some stupid, rich, spoiled brat that's never worked a day in her life. This royal family thing is complete bullshit!" Naruto ranted in response to his teammate. Sakura tried to interrupt by waving her hand in his face and calling out his name, but Naruto was on a roll and would not be deterred.

"I mean seriously. How long has it been since the royal family has even been across the borders that separate the worlds. At least a decade, that's how long. And then only as a little visit, nothing big. They left, gave up…why the fuck are we asking them to come back now? Kami it's going to suck babysitting some dumb bitch!"

"Tell me how you really feel," a quiet and unfamiliar voice was the only one to respond to Naruto, emanating from behind him. He looked to his pink-haired teammate at his front to see her arms crossed and foot tapping at him, irritation written all over her face. He stayed with his back to the girl, mentally cursing himself as his sensei (always sensei no matter how much they had progressed and how much he protested) greeted the voice.

"Ahh, Hime-Sama, welcome to the Shinobi Nations. It is your first visit, is it not?" Kakashi asked the girl as he bowed before her.

"Yes sir it is and thank you…" the girl responded in a quiet voice, the language obviously not her first. Her sentence trailed off, waiting for an introduction.

"Hatake Kakashi," he replied as he straightened. He then continued, "this is the rest of Cell 7, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, Sai, and Uchiha Sasuke. We were sent to escort you from the border to Fire Country." Kakashi paused and looked around a moment before continuing. "Did you come alone?" he asked, surprised she was sent without accompaniment.

"Um…yes, I came alone," the girl responded after a moment's pause, her expression clearly marking her discomfort. "You do last names first, right?" she asked after a moment.

Naruto burst out laughing before anyone else could respond, "Last names first! That makes no sense. Why would something that's last, go first? And you guys call me a baka!"

"That's because you are a baka, Dobe!" Sasuke replied quickly in time with Sakura's smack to his head before turning back to the princess. "Yes, family names are given before individual names."

"Thanks. So, I would be Perry Kiriyana. But you can just call me Kiri or KJ if you prefer, or anything else. It doesn't really matter to me. Also, if you could please talk a little bit slower. I've been learning this language for several years now, but I haven't had much practice," KJ requested, her voice still quiet and her eyes down.

"Of course, Hime-Sama. Shall we go and get your things?" Kakashi asked her, slowing his words just slightly to help her understand.

"I have everything I brought it my bag here," she replied, patting the tan messenger bag with the strap going diagonally across her chest. "And please don't call me Hime-Sama. A princes I might be, but I am well aware you do not hold me in any special regard," she requested, her eyes moving towards the blonde.

After a moment of silence and a strong jab from Sakura, Naruto moved forward and bowed before KJ, "I am deeply sorry about insulting you Hime-Sama. It won't happen again," he grumbled, eyes on the ground.

"Don't lie, it doesn't suit you. You should never apologize for things you aren't sorry for, anyways. You meant every word you said. If anything you are only sorry that I over-heard," she told him crisply, but a smile broke on her face quickly afterwards. "It's okay though. When I made the decision to accept the Elder's summons, I did not expect to come into warm welcoming arms and happy cheers from the crowds. I am aware that you don't want me here," KJ replied to his apology in her slow formed language, slipping on the words only a few times before finishing.

"Shall we begin our trip, Hime-Sama," Kakashi asked, ignoring the interaction between her and Naruto.

"Please don't call me Hime-Sama. And yes, I am ready. How long until we reach Konoha?"

"It's a day and half ride. We have a carriage ready for you, Hime-Sama," Sakura replied.

The girl only sighed in response and gestured that she was ready. Kakashi and Sakura led the way to where they had a carriage waiting, with Naruto and Sasuke following and Sai slipping away in the crowd to keep watch from a different angle.

"Here you are, Hime-Sama. It should be a fairly smooth ride in here for you. We will stop whenever you require for food or other such necessities, just let us know," Sakura informed her as the princess climbed into the carriage. The pink-haired kounichi shut the carriage door before the princess had a chance to respond and motioned for the driver to put the horses into motion. No one wanted to ride in with their new royalty.

"So, Naruto, does she meet your hotness standards?" Sakura asked teasingly as she walked next to her blonde friend, Sasuke on her other side.

"Why are you asking me, Sakura-chan. I'm gay, remember. I don't look at others," Naruto replied with wide, innocent eyes. Everyone knew his response had more to do with the artist-nin walking with his hand entwined with the blonde's own than Naruto's own honest assessment.

Sakura rolled her eyes before questioning his partner, "Well, Sai, what are your thoughts?"

"She's hideous." Which everyone also knew meant that he thought she was gorgeous for a girl. He had a bad habit of calling others the opposite of what he saw them as. Sai was his own special ray of sunshine.

"I'm sure Kakashi-sensei would agree with your assessment, however I refuse to even allow him to speak of it. My poor ears cannot stand his perversion."

"Sakura, I hear what you do with my brother at night…in the morning…pretty much all hours of the day. Don't play innocent here," Sasuke replied to her comments blandly, eyes never even straying towards her.

Sakura smacked Sasuke on the back of her head (barely restraining herself from adding chakra) as the color of her cheeks rivaled her hair.

"Who cares what she looks like? How are we going to get rid of her?" Sai asked, leaning forward to look down the line of people next to him, eyes glancing briefly to the top of the carriage in front of them where they all knew that Kakashi was listening to them, but was religiously reading his Icha Icha and pretending not to.

"We can't get rid of her. She's fucking royalty. She's going to lavish herself in luxury at our expense while we all wallow in misery. It's what stupid rich people like the teme here do," Naruto replied dramatically.

"Fuck off, Dobe. Regardless of that, we can't get rid of her, because if she renounces her title, the council gains power, not Tsunade. While I doubt she cares, it's in our best interest to keep her around for now. At least this way there is some small point of hope that we can figure a way out of this."

"We could just kill them all," Sai offered.

"And start a civil war that, even if it only lasted for a week, would open us up to outside attack? No way. There are still quite a few nin that would fight for the council if only because that is what they are trained to do. We would be the criminals in that case and would have to kill our comrades. We have to wait and see if there is a better way," Sakura replied strongly, fists clenching.

"It still sucks," Naruto replied, eyes down-cast.

"Hn," his best friend agreed silently.

Inside the carriage……

KJ stumbled into the seat as the carriage started moving before she was settled. She sighed heavily as she adjusted herself in the carriage. The windows were all covered with curtains and she decided for the moment she would enjoy her privacy. She could easily here the shinobi conversing behind her, and she wondered if they knew how thin the walls of the carriage were.

'_How did I get myself into this mess?_' She wondered silently as she rested her head to the side. '_Obviously they hate me, just as I figured they would. I knew and still, here I am. I have to learn to say no.'_

_**Flashback (KJ's POV)**_

Knock. Knock. Knock. A sharp rapping on the front door broke through the sounds of the television.

"I wonder who it is. I didn't hear a car come down the road or pull into the drive," my father commented as he rose from the couch.

"Probably Adam," I replied to his rhetorical question. My best friend lived just up the road from me and we always walked back and forth from each other's homes.

"Hello, can I help you?" I heard my father's unsure voice from the front door and I sat up on our couch and turned around to face the door. The person was still outside and the blinds were closed so I couldn't see our visitor, but I certainly didn't recognize the responding voice.

"I have been sent by Konoha's council with a formal request of your daughter's services," I heard the rich voice inform my father.

Konoha!! I of course knew about my family's position as royalty in the shinobi country, and had even received basic training in their language and customs as tradition dictated. But I had never thought that I would ever even get to see the shinobi nations, let alone be summoned.

The border between worlds had been discovered by a family member of mine 100 years ago when he was lost. The border today was well regulated as people on both sides feared what would happen if serious components of the worlds crossed. There were too many differences in personal ability as well as technology for the people to intermingle.

And so movement was restricted to high priority political parties and the like and consent always had to be given by officials on both sides of the border. Luckily the area where the fabric was thin between the worlds was small enough that it could be easily monitored. My mother had crossed twice, once as a child and again before I was born to visit and to gain understanding of the current news so that I could be taught properly, but only as backup, not because I would need the information.

I can't believe that a ninja crossed the border for me. What the fuck could the elder council want with me? I failed to notice during my pondering that my father had allowed the ninja to enter the house and in fact both were standing in front of where I was kneeling on the couch, my arms hanging over the back and my head resting on the cushion.

I quickly straightened and rose from the couch as I straightened the old tank top and plaid pajama pants that I had on, a testament to the lazy evening my father and I were spending. "Hi," I barely managed to squeak out as I took in the man before me.

I think ANBU is the division he's in, if I was remembering the uniform classifications correctly. The hard mask and silver vest over black was fairly elite looking, and I'm pretty sure ANBU is the name of the super-elite ninja in the village.

"Hime-Sama," the ninja before me greeted, bowing deeply before me. I scanned through my vocabulary as it's been a while since I'd practiced that language. Hime meant princess and Sama was put onto the name of someone who was highly respected. I immediately doubted that this ninja could actually respect me, and that he only addressed me so formally because he was trained to.

I hate formalities. I hate formal period, and so I couldn't help immediately correcting him, "Kiri, or KJ. No crazy Sama stuff, please."

"We must always address our superiors with the proper respect they are entitled," his lifeless voice rattled back without thought, and I instantly knew deep down that he didn't agree. He couldn't, nor should he.

"You can consider me your superior and address me with your respect when I deserve it, not because I was supposedly born with it, if you don't mind."

"Okay," my father interceded quickly, knowing I was quite opinionated on the subject of formalities for a 16 year old. "Why don't you have a seat here on the couch and tell us what specifically brought you here."

"Hai, Perry-San. I was sent by the Elder council to deliver this scroll to you and request your immediate response to the question within," he offered the information monotonously as he handed me the scroll before settling gracefully onto our overstuffed couch.

"Do you have a name?" I asked as I opened the scroll.

"You may call me Weasel as long as I am wearing my mask."

"Remind me again on the whole mask etiquette thing. I know there are certain rules about when you wear them and take them off and all that, I just can't remember," I asked him since I couldn't remember if it was appropriate or not to ask him to remove it.

"Our masks go on the moment we start a mission and we do not remove them in the presence of anyone aside from other ANBU, the Hokage, or other people we see fit such as close friends and family members," he grit out at me. I don't think he really enjoyed conversation that much, but probably felt obligated to answer.

"Well, in that case, please feel free to remove your mask if you wish, but do not feel you must."

"Arigato, Hime-Sama."

"So, what is the scroll about, Princess?" my father rejoined the conversation. I glared at him over the parchment for his obnoxious use of my title for a moment before continuing to read.

"The Elder council has removed the current Hokage from power, and as law dictates is requesting the royal family resume control," I summarized for him, my mind still processing the news.

"What?" My father responded quickly, shock evident on his face. "Why have they removed Tsunade?"

"It doesn't say. It just requests that I return to the Fire Nation soon, and that the council will be running things until then."

My father quickly turned to Weasel to have his questions answered, "Why did they remove Tsunade?"

"I am not permitted to answer."

"Well don't I override that a little?" my father scoffed at the shinobi's response.

"No. You are merely the husband of our deceased queen and father to our current Princess. Under our tradition that garners you respect, but no actual power."

"But I do," I interjected. I trumped everything, whether I wanted to or not.

"Hai, would you like for me to break the council's instructions, Hime-Sama?" he questioned as his face turned to me. His voice was still emotionless, and it made me think of him as some ragdoll in the middle of a game of tug-of-war. Whose commands should he obey, whose confidences get broken? I could never force that decision on someone. He may not have cared, it's not like I knew anything about him, but I cared.

"I would like for you to tell me anything you feel comfortable disclosing. If you do not wish to break the council's confidence, I won't force you, but I do give you permission to do so if you wish. However, I have a few other questions first. What is your rank in the ANBU?"

"I have been a Captain in ANBU for several years now."

"So you are a very elite shinobi who knows a lot about the village, right?"

"Hai."

"Let's be honest here. I don't know much of what is going on. My mother's last visit was 20 years ago, and we've been given little information since her death. You are obviously very good at serving your nation and such, so I would like to know what you think. And don't worry about insults or punishments or anything like that. Not that you would of course. I suppose I'm not very intimidating to someone that could kill me before I even saw you move , huh."

He contemplated my words for a moment, and I got the sense that he was sorting things out and trying to decide how to respond. I don't think that he expected this response from me at all. Finally he answered.

"The council has removed Tsunade from power because they are greedy and dominating and she refuses to be controlled by them. It is a move that they have been considering since the previous Hokage, and have finally decided to act on it. They want more power and money for themselves, and worry about their reputation more than the people. Of civilians I really cannot speak as I am not familiar with many of them. However, most of the shinobi support the Hokage. She is concerned for our well-being and safety before the success of a mission, and is highly respected."

"You seem like a very capable shinobi. I wouldn't think you would need the Hokage to look out for you," the question was obviously a les direct way to ask him to explain his support for the Hokage, and I could tell he knew that, but answered anyways.

"My younger brother and his team recently became Chuunin. They are very capable, but a shinobi's life is filled with enough danger as it is. We don't need stupid people to make it any harder for us. I have many other family members that I would not wish to see harmed because of poorly made decisions by their superiors."

"And what do you think of me?"

"I do not know you."

"That is not what I asked."

"I think that it is very foolish to ask a child with hardly any experience in the realm of leadership, let alone in the country she would be leading, to take control."

"I agree."

_**END FLASHBACK**_

(Normal POV)

'_And yet, here I am. Less than three weeks after the mysterious Weasel ANBU left from his two day stay and I'm in a carriage off to my new life,' _she thought again to herself as she carefully pulled back the curtains and watched as the trees slowly came and left the tiny view.

'_I hope I made the right choice.'_


	2. The Council

A/N: So here's chapter two. Thanks to EggrollPerson for the review It inspired me to actually finish this chapter. I'll be the first to admit that it is a little slow, but I feel like I have to get these things out the way in order to go onto the parts of the story I want to get to. Let me know if anyone has any suggestions to help out 

Chapter Two: The Council

"Hime-Sama, how is the ride going so far?" Kakashi asked the girl after she opened the carriage door in response to his knock.

"Fine, thank you. However, I would love it if I could walk outside for a while, if you think it's alright. I really need to stretch my legs some."

"Of course, Hime-Sama. I think it's safe for that. We are already in the borders of Fire Country, though there are still another eight hours of travel before we reach Konoha. Would you like for us to stop at the next village to get something to eat?"

"Stop whenever you need to. Don't worry about me. And please, stop calling me Hime-Sama. It makes me very uncomfortable. Consider it an order, if that will make you stop," the girl commented softly and slowly as she jumped lightly from the carriage, shutting the door behind her.

She pulled her mp3 player out of her pocket and adjusted her headphones into her ears before selecting Three Days Grace from her music library and turning the volume up high. She knew none of the shinobi would be interested in conversing with her anyways.

She walked alongside the carriage, taking in the scenery as they travelled. She'd been riding in the carriage for a little over 6 hours and it was wonderful to stretch her legs a little. Always a dreamer, her mind quickly wandered away with the ,usic as her body walked on auto-pilot next to the carriage.

The four recently promoted Jounin remained behind the carriage as Kakashi halted the mini-caravan and spoke with the princess, watching silently as she exited the carriage and pulled some odd object from her pocket.

"What's that thing?" Naruto whispered to Sakura as he heard weird sounds begin to come from it.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? It's obviously something from the other side."

"Go ask her," Naruto prodded his pink-haired teammate.

"Why me? You're the one who wants to know so bad."

"Aww. Sakura-chan. But she hates me already, I can tell."

"Maybe that's because the first words out of your mouth were rude."

"Like you disagree. Now pleaseeeeeeeee, Sakura-chan!"

"Oh Kami, SHUT UP!!!!!" Sasuke bit at his teammates, stalking forward to the girl in front of them and tapping her on the shoulder. He rolled his eyes as she jumped, obviously startled. This girl was going to have to be constantly supervised or she wouldn't last two minutes in their world.

Kiri pulled the headphones out of her ears, letting them dangle from the cord that was coming from under her shirt, the music still blaring from them, as she turned to see who had tapped her. She was slightly surprised to see it was Sasuke, not that she had really been expecting any of them to approach.

"Did you need something, Sasuke?"

"The Dobe wants to know what that is," he replied, gesturing to the device in her hand.

"The 'Dobe' is the blonde one, right?" she asked, amusement evident.

"Aa."

Kiri quickly turned around and begin to walk backwards beside Sasuke as she addressed Naruto, "It's called an mp3 player. You can download music and movies and pictures onto it so you can access them whenever you want."

"How?"

"Good technology. How much do you know about the other side of the portal?"

Naruto shrugged at the question as he answered, "Not much I guess. Just what little bit they teach us in the academy. There are no shinobi on the other side, right?"

"Slower please, Naruto. I can't understand like half of what you're saying."

Naruto rolled his eyes and repeated himself, slowing his speech further than necessary.

Kiri chose to ignore his over-exageration of speech and replied, "Right, not like you guys anyways. People from my world can't access chakra like you can, and so we are very limited in what we can do."

"Sounds like your world sucks. Why would anyone want to live there?"

"We may not have your personal abilities, but we have far greater technology in our everyday lives than you. Here, I'll show you an example," Kiri offered, turning forward again as she began flipping through the menu on her Sony walkman.

Kiriyana spent the next hour and a half of travel showing the shinobi different pictures and videos and trying to explain what life was like on the other side, only occasionally struggling over translations and what words to use best. Even Kakashi had hopped off the roof of the carriage and strolled behind his students to get a better look at the tiny device in the girl's hand. The shinobi seemed to forget their hate for the girl and what she represented, for the moment at least.

The Next Day…….

The group had left the carriage at the last village. It was only another two hours to Konoha and Kiri was more than happy to walk more after an awkward night's sleep and two hours already spent in the carriage. They had finally made it though, and Kiri was staring up at the giant gates to Konoha for the first time.

"Here we are, Hime-Sama. This is your village now," Kakashi intoned to her as he headed towards the gatehouse to gain them entry.

A figure dropped down from the trees behind them and strolled confidently to the group. "Welcome to Konoha, Hime-Sama," he greeted cordially, bowing as required.

"Hello again, Weasel," Kiri greeted the masked ANBU before her. "Are you just returning to the village as well?"

"No. I have come to inform you that the Elder Council wants to meet with you immediately. I am to take you straight to the tower, and you can get settled afterwards."

"Well, I guess it's best to do what the Council says," Kiri agreed demurely as she turned to follow Itachi into the village. Cell 7 simply shared a defeated look at her words. It seemed that their spineless princess was already playing into the council's hands before she even met them.

After a moment they followed after, as their mission parameters stated that they were still responsible for the princess until she was in the tower.

"Weasel, are you familiar with Cell7?" Kiri asked her first contact to the shinobi world as he walked beside her.

"Aa." Kiri only nodded at his monosyllabic response, having already gotten used to them during his short stay when he delivered her summons. Kiri remained quiet after that and thoughtfully took stock of her surroundings.

It was obvious even to her the difference between the shinobi class and the common supporting villagers, and she could see how much Konoha revolved around the former. As she walked, Kiri kept her opinions to herself and carefully filed them away for later analysis.

Eventually they reached the tallest building located in what she would guess was the village's center, and Kiri could only assume that this was the tower they mentioned. She followed behind Weasel as he led her up several flights of stairs and finally to stand outside to large doors.

"The council is waiting in the conference room on the other side of these doors. They have requested a private audience with you. I will wait here until your meeting is done and then show you where you will be staying."

Kiri nodded to the ANBU in response and turned to Cell 7 before entering, "Thanks for getting me here safe. I think that if we had met under different circumstances, you might have actually been able to like me," she smiled softly for a moment before her face turned more serious, "but I understand that you have loyalties to keep. I could only hope to such devotion to my own leadership. I would ask that you keep an open mind though. When I was being trained about the shinobi lifestyle as a child, I was always told that things here are never as they seem."

Without waiting for response, Kiri turned, took a deep breath, and passed through the doors.

"Our village is doomed," Naruto grumbled as soon as the doors had clicked shut again.

"For once, I agree," Sakura nodded sagely. "She seems like a nice girl, and after talking with her, I don't despise her so much. I can understand it's not her fault, but that doesn't change anything. This is totally beyond her, and the council knows that. It's why they picked her."

"Don't be so sure, Sakura," the ANBU commented, not moving from his relaxed position leaning against the wall. He didn't bother to elaborate.

"It's not like I want her to fail, but really. What are the chances of a sixteen year old princess who probably hasn't worked a day in her life and who was raised in an entirely different lifestyle actually succeeding?" she asked in response, glaring slightly in his direction.

"Less than .0268%," Sai said mechanically from the side, straight face giving nothing away to the sarcasm of the comment.

Before anyone could respond, the room next to them exploded in commotion, and the shinobi could easily hear the strangled yell of "WHAT?" coming from one of the Elders. Not moments after the uproar started, the doors to the room opened and Kiri exited.

"What did you do?" Naruto asked, noises from the other room still present but not discernable.

"I dismissed the Elder Council. I told them I didn't feel that their knowledge would assist me in the running of Konoha and that their time as village leaders has passed," she responded.

"Can you do that?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

Kiri shrugged, "I don't know. I think so. I'm in charge right? My word is the final law and all that. The council answers to me, so I can dismiss them just like they dismissed the Hokage, right?"

"So what, you're just going to lead this country with no help or instruction? Just running in blindly?" Sakura asked in disbelief.

"Wow, I really can't do anything to please you, huh? I thought you were supposed to be smart. Of course I'm not going to do that. But I'm also not stupid enough to think that they really wanted my help. They just wanted to use me to accomplish their own goals, I know that, and I don't need that. So, I'm going to get a council that will actually do a good job."

Naruto scoffed, "And who's going to do that."

"I have absolutely no idea. I don't know anyone yet. Do you have any suggestions?"

"This can be discussed at a later time," Weasel intoned from the side. "Let us get you settled first. There is a room at the top of the tower that will house you for now. All of your things that were shipped ahead are already present. Come."

Kiri nodded and began to follow the ANBU down the hall. Cell 7 paused for a moment before Naruto began to stride after their princess. "Hey, you can't just walk away in the middle of dropping a huge bombshell like dismissing the council. I want to know what's gonna happen next!"

Kiri paused and turned around for a moment, "The council's five minutes is up and they are still in the building. Think for a moment of what they did to Tsunade and your village. I give you permission to do whatever you deem fit. You may come up to my suite after that if you wish. Of course, if you are not up to the task, I will ask someone else to do it."

"Oh no, we'll take care of it," Naruto responded, smirking as his short attention span turned completely to what lay ahead.

Kiri smiled and jogged a little to her ANBU lead who hadn't bothered to wait.

She walked silently behind him, taking in other parts of the building she hadn't gotten to see on the way in. After a few minutes and another three flights of stairs, her ANBU escort opened a pair of double doors and stepped aside to allow her to pass into the room before following her in and closing the door behind them.

"Pretty nice place," Kiri commented as she walked further in. The doors led into a very short hallway with entry closet that opened up into a large living area. A small kitchen was off in a corner, a wall with an open pass separating the two rooms. She followed another hallway down to a half bath, and then into a bedroom with a full sized bathroom attached. A large four poster bed stood proudly in the room, black curtains encasing it from the bars.

"Your father had the bed sent ahead of you. He said that you would appreciate it and would be better for you than our traditional bedding. He also sent a contractor and an appropriate amount of money to have the bathroom remolded to be more what you are accustomed to. Will you be alright now?"

"Hai. Everything is wonderful, thank you very much. Are you going to leave now?"

"Not yet. I expect my otouto and his cell will be arriving shortly to continue to harass you. Also, a guard has not yet been assigned to you, so if I leave there will be no one to guard properly."

"Who assigns that?"

"You do now. The council has dismissed most of the previous staff in anticipation of restructuring more to their liking. However, they did not get a chance to yet make any official hires, so for now, it is all on you," Weasel told her, his voice its usual monotony and only slightly slower so that he knew she could understand.

"Great, no pressure. By the way, what does 'otouto' mean? I'm not familiar with that word.

"It is a more endearing term one uses for their little brother."

"Oh. Who?"

Weasel reached up and removed his mask, hooking on his belt and looking at the girl across from him.

"Well, it's definently not Naruto, unless he was adopted."

"No, Sasuke is my otouto."

"Ah. So, does this mean you trust me now?" Kiri asked with a grin, commenting on the removal of his mask.

"I am impressed that you followed through with what we discussed. You are also my superior, and I might as well get used to some exposure."

"Are you always so bland?"

"Aa."


	3. Friendssort of

Thanks to Eggrollperson, Maxium, and I love athrun for reviewing! In all honesty, even I'm not 100% sure where I'm going with this. Hopefully somewhere good, right?! Also, I don't have a beta, so I'm sorry for any mistakes I miss during proof readings.

Chapter Three: Friends….sort of

In the Council Room……….

"How is this possible?"

"She can't do this!"

"We must respond. We'll get her killed. Get the shinobi to revolt against her. They won't follow a dimwit like her."

"We'll frame her! Make it seem like it was her idea all along to get rid of Tsunade and return so that she can sap Konoha dry of its resources and torture the people!"

"Yes…Perfec-" but the agreement was broken off with a loud crash as the double doors flew open, smoke pouring in from the hallway.

"What's going on?" one of the council members asked, squinting towards the door to try and see the problem.

A figure appeared on the ground, crawling towards them, but obscured by the smoke.

"Who is that?"

"It's the princess! What happened?"

"Who cares? This is perfect!" another member hissed as the girls figure became clearer, blood running down her chin and a sword buried in her back.

"Careful," another whispered in response. "She's not dead yet, and her guards may still be close by

"H…hel- help…m….me…" the princess sputtered before her head fell and her body stopped moving.

"We have to pretend to help her. We can't look suspicious. Guard! Guard, where are you? We need assistance, NOW!" A woman yelled as rushed towards the body. Feeling a pulse she quickly pressed down on the throat to cut off air from the not yet dead princess.

Another member ran into the hall only to go flying into the room the next moment. The woman next to KJ's body scrambled backwards.

"Don't worry…kukuku…help is here. I'm always happy help," A voice answered to the call, and the council's blood ran cold.

"Orochimaru," one whispered right before said man strolled into the room, purposely walking over the dead body, his favorite medic passing him to walk around the table.

"How nice you still remember my name. I heard that you got rid of Tsunade, and was so excited I had to come and see for myself. Then I ran into this little tasty morsel in the hall and could practically smell the stench of royalty pouring off of her, so I of course had to say hello…kukuku."

As his master spoke, Kabuto examined the council, poking at them and mumbling different ideas for experiments and the like he was interested in them for.

"What do you want?" a member shouted, voice trembling as he tried not to listen to the gray-haired medic's mumblings of how many organs can be carefully removed before a person dies.

"Well, I realized it was rather rude to kill her, who's going to take charge now? So I thought I'd lend my services. You surely don't have anyone else lined up, do you?" he asked in his best innocent voice, long tongue licking his lips.

"O…of course not…" a council member stuttered, not looking away from Kabuto, who was leaning around the man, face mere centimeters from his own.

"I like this one, Oro-sama. He has a nice epiglottis. Can I have him? I'd like to see if it looks so pretty on its own."

Orochimaru simply waved to Kabuto as he appeared to ponder over the councilman's words. "Well, I will definitely take the job. But I wonder, what do I need you around for. I have my own advisor, and I'm afraid that you'll just get in my way. Kabuto, you may dispatch of any you don't wish to keep."

"What! No…wait…please..noooooooooo" the council woman's scream only rose in volume as she watched a shuriken wheeling towards her face. She vaguely heard the screams of her colleges before her world faded to black.

"I love genjutsu," Orochimaru's voice broke the now silence as he leaned against the wall, surveying the room full of downed council members.

"And henges," Kabuto responded leaning beside him. "They're gonna be angry when they finally figure it out."

Two poofs sounded through the room and Sasuke's deeper voice responded, "Totally worth it. Besides, it's not like they can do anything about it."

"True, true." Naruto agreed. "I think that one dude pissed himself when I made him think I was ripping out his tongue."

"Hn. I suppose we should go. Sakura and Sai should have retrieved some ANBU by now to escort them to the dungeons."

"Yea. Kakashi should be back from the butchers soon with the blood. They're gonna be so freaked when they wake up. I'm tempted to keep watch so that I can be there to see it."

"We've had our fun. We'll let the others have the good seats for that."

"Yea, yea. Come on, let's go up to join your brother. The others will be here soon."

*********************************************************************

KJ's room……

"_Are you always so bland?"_

"_Aa."_

"Doesn't it ever get boring?"

Itachi merely raised his eyebrows in response. Both of them moved into the living area, Kiri sitting on the loveseat while Itachi sat on one end of the matching black leather couch that furnished her living room. Another gift from home.

"Well, what do you do for fun?"

A small smirk this time, but still no vocal response as Itachi settled further into the couch and closed his eyes. He was very good at ignoring people's questions.

"Sakura's your girlfriend or something similar right? So, you have to be capable of some fun at least."

"What makes you think that?" Itachi asked harshly. They tended to keep things quiet to avoid the Uchiha elders and their scheming minds.

"I heard a comment your brother made during the trip over. I was in the carriage, and they didn't think I could hear them. They were discussing my hotness and he made some comment to her about hearing her and his brother at all hours of the day. So unless he has another brother…"

"No. We have a younger sister, but that's it."

"Oh. Is she a shinobi as well."

"No. Absolutely not. And as for Sakura and I, I would ask you not discuss it openly."

"Why isn't your sister in training?"

"My family has enough honor with Sasuke and I. There is no need for her to risk her life. She will marry well and honor our family that way," He spoke robotically

"Is that what she wants? Cause that sounds pretty biased and stupid to me."

"There are many things about this world different than your own. She may not be the most thrilled with the idea, but at least she will live to be angry with us about it."

"I will save my judgments and potential anger until after I talk to your sister about it."

"What makes you think you would be speaking with her?"

"Oh…um" Kiri stuttered. Somehow, '_because I thought that maybe we might actually be friends and that you might invite me over for dinner some night so I don't always have to eat alone like I imagine I'll end up doing'_ didn't seem like an appropriate response. For a moment she'd forgotten that he had no interest in befriending her, and even if he did, was not the type to invite one over for dinner.

Noticing his raised eyebrow at her stuttering, she quickly blurted, "Nothing. I just meant if I met her…" she trailed off, looking away from his piercing gaze.

The door suddenly opened and Cell 7 strolled in, saving Kiri from having to finish the conversation. Kakashi plopped himself on the rooms recliner, nose buried in his book. Sakura, Naruto, and Sai settled onto to the couch, Sakura next to Itachi, Naruto squeezed in by her, and Sai on the opposite end. Sasuke chose to sit on the floor next to the recliner as opposed to sitting on the loveseat.

"So, how did it go?" Kiri asked them, ignoring her own inner tension, as well as her lonely position on the couch.

"It's handled. Well, most of it. There's just another piece when they wake up from their terror induced comas, and then it will be handled," Naruto informed her.

"So what are you going to do now?" Sakura asked, stretching slightly before settling further on the couch.

"I'm not completely sure. I was thinking that I should have a meeting with the Clan heads to inform them of my decision and hear their suggestions. I'm sure that it will just be a giant headache, but a wise move nonetheless. I would also like to hear you're suggestions though. You know the people hear better than I do. The council fired everyone, I heard, so I need to get either the old people back or new people in as soon as possible. I'd assume you'd know more about that than me."

"It will be an easy task to return all the fired shinobi to their positions. I'd imagine that missions can start being processed and assigned tomorrow morning, as long as there are no changes that you'd like to make," Kakashi replied.

"No changes. Not yet anyways. Ideally, for me, I'd like for things to run as they normally would on a day-to-day basis so that I can just observe. Kinda hard to make changes if I don't really know how things are to begin with, huh."

"If that is your wish, Hime-Sama, then I will leave for the evening and see that everything is taken care of," Kakashi offered, rising from the recliner.

"I think so, but you tell me. Is everyone fit for the position they were in, or should some changes be made immediately?"

"Everything will be fine for now, Hime-Sama. Adjustments can be made latter as you suggested," Itachi replied, waving Kakashi away. Itachi hadn't even lowered his hand before the gray-haired man was gone from the room.

"You guys don't have to stay here. I'm sure that you're all hungry and have…other things you'd like to be doing," Kiri offered, eyeing Itachi and Sakura's close proximity as she spoke.

"Not yet, Hime-Sama. There-" but Itachi was interrupted by loud yelling.

"If you call me your fucking princess one more time I swear on all that is sacred I will find away to remove your testicles and shove them down your goddamn throat."

"I sincerely doubt you'd be able to do that," Itachi replied, obviously not put off by the princess's loud yelling in her native language.

"No, but I promise to make you regret it."

"And how might you accomplish such a thing?" Itachi's disbelief still evident in his voice.

"For all the differences between this world and my own, I'd imagine there are certain facets still the same. I'm sure I could find a way to arrange you schedules so that you and Sakura have a hard time meeting for the common sexual encounters you seem to pollute your younger brother's ears with, just for starters. Keep pressing me and I'll come up with something eventually. The easy path is obviously to STOP calling me that."

"Anyways, Hime-Sama. As I was saying, we cannot retire until the matter of your guard is resolved. The council dismissed the Hokage's normal tower and personal attendees, and we cannot leave you here unprotected."

"If some of them want to come back and guard the tower tonight, fine. If not, I'm sure that I cannot get into that much trouble in one evening," Kiri grit in response, fighting another outburst.

"We will not take the risk. Sasuke will remain with you until tomorrow when we will find a more permanent guard." Itachi commanded.

"We will send over the standard amount of tower guards as well to watch the entrance and shinobi traffic flow. While at night it shouldn't be that busy, starting tomorrow shinobi will be arriving to file reports and receive missions, and you will need to be kept watch over," Sakura added as she rose from the couch, tugging on Itachi's hand interlaced with her own. Before Kiri could respond, the couple was gone is a puff of smoke.

"Have fun, Teme," Naruto mock saluted before he and Sai left the room in a similar fashion.

After the shinobi were gone, silence took over the room. Kiri could see Sasuke's jaw tightened as he hid his displeasure at his older brother's commands. Kiri rose after a couple of minutes of the tense silence and strolled to the kitchen.

"You really don't have to stay if you don't want to," Kiri called over her shoulder as she walked.

"Hn," Was her only response from the raven-haired guard.

"Are you hungry?" Kiri asked, opening the refrigerator door. There was no response as she closed said door and turned to the pantry, opening it instead. "Well I hope not because there isn't a lick of food in here,' she continued, closing the pantry door.

Again no response.

"So, what's your favorite color?" she asked, returning to the living room and sitting on the loveseat again.

"Hn?"

"Your favorite color? It's not a super hard question." Kiri prodded, curling her feet under her. Truth be told, she had no idea what possessed her to ask. She wasn't even expecting an answer, but the silence was awkward and it was the first solution.

If Kiri was clueless as to why she had bothered to ask, then there is no adequate description for the reason Sasuke answered, "Dark blue."

"Really," Kiri smiled brightly at the given response. "I'm a huge fan of blue myself. I really like a more turquiosey blue though."

"Hn." And just like that silence filled the room again.

"So, are you always this chatty, or do I just drag the words out of you. I mean seriously. It's like you haven't shut up since we got here," Kiri complained sarcastically, readjusting her position yet again.

Sasuke quirked his eyebrows before turning his head to look at her. "Are you insane?"

"I don't know. Maybe. Let's review: I left behind my home, friends, and family, to move to a country I've never been to, filled with people I've never met, to take charge of a village, most of whose inhabitants are fully capable and have the desire to end my life in a variety of different ways. Nobody wants me here. No one I've met so far would even consider trying to like me, which on a personal note I think is quite rude because they don't even know me. I'm quite probably going to end up being absolutely miserable and die horrible death. Sounds pretty sane to me."

"If it's so awful here, then why'd you come?"

"It doesn't have to be that bad. It's just the way things look now. Though if your cell's attitude is anything to go by, it's not going to get much better. But I like being useful, and I like helping people. I talked to your brother a lot when he delivered my summons, and it sounded like things were bad, and I thought I could make them better. I still do think that. I will make things better, even if people don't believe it."

"Even at the expense of your own misery?"

"Isn't that sometimes what being in charge is about. Sacrificing so that others that depend on you will prosper. I'm sure that's quite an idealized way to look at it. It's easy to say when I've never really had to endure such hardships yet. I guess we'll all just have to wait and see how far I can reach. I wish my dad we're here."

"Why," Sasuke asked, unable to hide his distaste. He'd stop hoping for his father's attention long ago. Even still, the man's constant disappointment still led Sasuke to fit's of rage when no one, except maybe his brother, was around.

"It's nice to have someone around that always believes in you, no matter how badly the odds are stacked. Nice to have someone you know will be there to pick up the pieces and help clean up the fall, just because they love you so much, you know?"

"Hn." Sasuke didn't know. You didn't get babied and coddled in the Uchiha Clan. You were criticized and had your failed attempts thrown at you until you learned from them. Sasuke always thought it was bullshit. He would never treat his children that way, if he were to ever even have any.

He sat in silence, ignoring the girl's restless shifting as his mind quickly analyzed more of what she'd said. She was proving to have quite a bit more depth to her than they'd originally thought possible. He was not taken with her in anyway, but a shinobi knew to never discredit things to early. His brother did seem to a have a particular respect for her, only barely, but still there. And she seemed to be rather open minded and well informed about the arrangement. Surely not the complete slovenly bimbo Naruto had vocalized her being.

Perhaps it was worth it explore further. He wasn't about to declare himself her bff, but it couldn't hurt invest time into her well-being either. Being polite couldn't hurt. Who knew, maybe she really would do great and wonderful things. Not likely, but it was a bit too early in the game to slam the door shut.

Sasuke rose from the ground and strolled to the front door, feeling Kiri's eyes follow him.

"Decided to leave after all?"

"Aa. Come on, we're going to get some food."

Kiri rose and shifted uncomfortably for a moment before responding; "I don't have any money in your currency."

Sasuke just gave her a look of disbelief for a moment before realizing she was serious.

"Of course you do," he objected. "As a member of the royal family, you have full access to all of Konoha's public accounts."

"That's ridiculous. I'm not just going to reach in and take the village's money at will," she replied, disgusted with the idea and visibly insulted at the suggestion.

"So, what, you're just going to starve to death," Sasuke scowled in return.

"Of course not. I'd planned on going out to the stores tomorrow and recording the prices of daily living items. I will then formulate a reasonable monthly stipend for myself, and compare it to the payment rates of other employed villagers to be sure the amount wasn't too high. I don't want to start pulling money out until I've done that."

"That's what I – What?" Sasuke had not been expecting that response all and had to stop his intended comeback short. He was speechless for a moment before recovering with a weak, "oh," and then following with a slightly stronger statement, "That actually sounds fairly reasonable."

Kiri, flushed and angry from his presumption and her rant, also paused awkwardly, not expecting his agreement. "Thanks," she responded quietly, looking away.

Sasuke took a deep breath and turned back towards the door. "Come on. I will treat you to dinner tonight."

"You don't have to do that. Just get yourself something. I'll be fine."

"I know I don't have to. Consider it a welcoming present. Now come on."

"I don't want you to think you have to pay for me."

"I want to. Now let's go," Sasuke growled though his teeth as he stalked back into the room and grabbed Kiri by the arm before dragging her out the door.

He'd never thought he'd have to work so hard to get a freaking girl to go out to dinner with him. Not of course that he was doing so in any form of a romantic way. Purely business, at the very most a tentative friendship.

They were both hungry and this option made sense. Besides, wouldn't his father be so proud. This was certainly the honorable thing to do. Sasuke's fists clenched at the thought of his father, and he realized to late he still had a grip on Kiri's arm as he heard her squeak in protest to the extra force.

He released and continued walking without a word. He wasn't doing this for, or because of, his father. This was his own path, chosen for his own reasons.

Sasuke was brought out of his musings by a quiet 'thank you' from Kiri as they walked out of the tower.

"Hn."

"Don't you even want to know what I'm thanking you for?" Kiri asked, slightly put off still by his cold demeanor, though she'd experienced it off and on for the past two days from him, and before that with his brother.

"Dinner," Sasuke grunted the response, keeping his eyes focused ahead.

"Nope," Kiri replied lightly, another smile breaking out on her now cheerful face.

'_She sure is easy to entertain'_ Sasuke thought to himself as he humored her.

"What then?"

"For not calling me Hime-Sama," she replied easily, giving him another sweet smile before looking in front of her again.


	4. Dinner with Sasuke

A/N: I have no excuse for my extended absence aside from life. Now though, I have graduated, moved to a new state where I don't know anyone except my mother, and am jobless…so I've definitely got time on my hands :) Chapter 5 will probably be up Wednesday, if not tomorrow, and Ch 6 shortly after that! I'm always happy to answer any questions. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Dinner with Sasuke

They walked down the street in silence, Sasuke with his eyes straight ahead and his hands in his pockets, as Kiri did her best to drink in their surroundings while trying to keep up with the brisk pace Sasuke set. After ten minutes or so Sasuke slowed and turned into a small restaurant, a barbeque place, Kiri guessed by the smell.

"Hello, welcome t- Oh! Hi Sasuke-kun! It's been awhile since you've come in to see me," the hostess exclaimed brightly as she realized who had entered the establishment. "Is Itachi-kun coming to join you as well?" she asked, looking up at him intently.

"Not today. Just a table for two, please," Sasuke bit out, clenching his fists in his pocket as the girl practically drooled on herself. Said girl's eyes flickered over to Kiri for a brief moment, giving a quick once over before dismissing her as unimportant and returning to the man before her.

"Of course, Sasuke-kun. Anything I can do for you, just ask," she toned suggestively as she grabbed two menus and swayed over to a table in the center of the dining room and in clear view of the hostess stand.

"I'd prefer one of the booths in the back room, as usual, Keiko," Sasuke demanded.

"Of course," Keiko pouted, leading the way into a more private dining room and up into a corner booth. Sasuke easily slid into the corner, his back the wall, as Kiri slid into the other side. Keiko dropped the menus off and left shrugging, used the the Uchiha attitude and knowing that perseverance was the answer.

"Do you come here often?" Kiri asked as she flipped open the menu.

"Aa. This is my favorite place. Nii-san and I usually come here."

"That girl seems to have quite the thing for you. Do you sit in the corner just to get away from her?"

"No. I like having my back to the wall and seeing all around the room. It's more secure this way. Avoiding her is just a bonus." Sasuke replied with a smirk as he fiddled with the menu in front of him, not needing to open it.

"Nice. It's good to know that you can form sentences, by the way."

"Hn."

"So, what's good here? I can kind of read the menu, but the characters are all so tiny and crowded it's really difficult," Kiri asked quietly, looking frustratingly at the menu.

Sasuke plucked the offending object from her hands and set it with his. "I'll take care of the order."

"Thanks. So, do you know where Tsunade is? And do you think that she'll come back?" Kiriyana asked after their waiter had come and taken their drink and dinner orders.

"I imagine that she is in a village somewhere in Fire Country, gambling and losing horribly. She will return gladly if you ask her to. She will never be able to fully leave now that she has already served time as our leader. Do you really want her to come back though? Wouldn't that make your placement here rather pointless?"

"We'll see. The most important thing right now is to ensure that the village can still function and prosper, and is not open to attack from any other nation. We must always appear strong and undefeatable, even if undergoing political restructuring."

"Aa. Very true. I am surprised you are so aware. I thought that people tended to develop at a slower rate on the other side of the portal."

"Are you saying that they're stupid,"

Sasuke shook his head lightly as he replied, "Not at all. We are taught that less responsibility is placed on them at earlier ages, essentially extending their childhoods, at least compared to ours. I made my first kill on a mission when I was 12, where most kids on your side still worry about what outfit to wear to school, yes?"

"Well, in America, yes. There are many countries that this is not the case, but in most countries in the other world that are comparable to your own, it is. Of course, while I was raised there, I also had a lot of separate tutoring growing up in this language and culture, as well as practical lessons in leadership and decision making. Mostly untested of course, but still. I was trained for this outcome, even if I never really expected it to happen."

"Hn." Sasuke leaned back as dinner was placed in front of him, and both parties fell silent as they began eating and thought about what the other had said.

"So what is your rank again?" Kiri asked as she and Sasuke made the walk back to the tower.

"I was recently promoted to Jounin by the council after they removed Tsunade, as were Naruto and Sakura."

"Not Sai?"

"He was already ranked as a Jounin."

"Are you going to become an ANBU?"

"I planned on it when I turned 16 this past July, but the dissent with Tsunade and the council has changed plans. I plan to test once things are more settled."

Kiri looked over to him curiously for a moment before asking, "Why did you wait so long? I would think that since you're team was sent o escort me back, you must be considered quite capable. Or they were just hoping I'd get killed off, I suppose."

"A promise I made to my brother a long time ago. Perhaps one day I will tell you more, but not today."

"Fair enough," Kiri shrugged as they reached the tower and headed up to her suite.

"So, you can have the bed if you want. I'll sleep on the couch," Kiri offered as she shut and locked the door to her apartment. Sasuke looked at her with a clear flash of disbelief before he carefully covered it with his normal emotionless façade.

"You're joking, right?"

"No. In my house, we never let a guest sleep on the couch or the floor if there's a bed available. Since, there's no guest room here, my bed's the only one available," Kiri replied calmly.

"Yes, well, in this world, there is no way a princess sleeps on a couch EVER, nor does a man allow a woman to give up her bed for him."

"Hm. We'll just have to agree to disagree on that point. Now, I have another important set of questions for you," Kiri replied after rolling her eyes at his comment. She sat down on the couch, once again tucking her feet underneath of her. Sasuke looked at the loveseat across from her before moving to sit on the other end of the couch she was occupying.

"What questions do you have now," Sasuke asked, weary of what she would want to know now.

"I need you to tell me about your brother and Kakashi. If they don't stop calling me Hime-Sama, I will make them pay no matter what, but it'll be easier if I know a bit more about them."

Sasuke smirked at her request. He always did love getting one over on his Aniki, and surely Kakashi had done a multitude of things to deserve some form of vengeance. Even better, he could get his revenge and they would never even know of his involvement. Perfect.

The Following Morning….

Kiriyana woke to a rapid and loud knocking on her door. "Go away!" she called out before pulling her blanket over the bottom of her face and snuggling deeper into her bed. Another knock and a call for her to get up were also ignored. A period of quiet followed and Kiri had just started to believe that she was actually going to be left alone when she suddenly found herself quite cold.

She looked over her shoulder to see Sasuke looking at her blankly, her comforter gripped lightly in his hands, before pushing her face back into the pillows.

"Aren't you supposed to be all super respectful or something? Ya know, bowing and scraping and following my every command?"

"Hn."

"I'm fairly certain I could have you killed for this. Trying to assassinate your princess through hypothermia. Certainly worthy of the death penalty," she threatened, her voice muffled by the pillow.

Sasuke didn't even respond, merely rolled his eyes before dropping the comforter and ripping the pillow out from under the girl's head. She obviously didn't want to be treated special, judging by her reactions to the title 'Hime-Sama' alone, and he certainly felt no inclination to give her respect based on her title if she didn't want it.

Sasuke watched for a moment as the girl pulled a pillow from across the bed and continued to ignore him. He shook his head at her actions while silently debated what step to take next. If it were Naruto, he would deliver several chakra enhanced hits to her head, but this wasn't his blonde teammate, and chakra enhancements may not be entirely fair.

Sasuke thought for a moment more before coming to a decision that would serve to both wake the girl up, as well as test the boundaries of her relaxed behavior. Everyone had their limits in what they would take, and a lot could be learned about a person based on those limits.

So, Saskue stuck his finger in his mouth and sucked for about 10 seconds before removing it and promptly sticking said wet finger into her exposed ear. It was something his brother had done to him as a child – when their father wasn't around of course – and while it was rather disgusting, Sasuke knew it was the perfect experiment in testing the girl's boundaries.

His finger had much less of an effect than he expected. There was no jerking away or shrieking or yelling as he would have expected of a person when a stranger stuck a saliva-slicked finger in their ear and wiggled.

Kiri merely rolled over onto her back and glared up at Sasuke. "Did you seriously just do that to me?"

"Aa."

"I really can't figure you out at all. I mean seriously. Yesterday you sat on the floor by your brother rather than sit next to me on the loveseat and today your wiping your spit in my ear?" Kiri complained as she discretely reached down for the covers.

"Take it as a compliment that I talk to you at all. It's a rare occurrence."

"And to what do I owe such an honor?"

Sasuke merely shrugged and shoved the covers further out of her reach. "Everyone will be here soon with breakfast. Get up and ready," Sasuke commanded as he turned to exit the room. His retreat was interrupted as he felt thin arms unexpectedly wrap around his waist and pull him backwards until he was laying face up on top of KJ, ass on the bed between her legs and upper body sprawled on top of hers.

"If you get to put your nasty spit in my ear I get to use you as a blanket," Kiri explained as she kept a tight grip around his chest, though she knew he could easily escape.

"Let go of me know or I will break both of you arms off and beat you to death with them. I will then resuscitate you and burn you slowly until you die yet another painful death," Sasuke spoke, his voice low and even, his body tense and nearly trembling with restraint.

Kiri slowly released her grip and lay still until Sasuke was up and away from the bed, back still to her. "Not quite friends enough for random tackling and hugging, huh?" she asked sheepishly, trying to lighten the mood some.

"Not nearly. You can get killed doing that to people around here."

Kiri scoffed at this as she finally rose from the bed, "You wouldn't have killed me. Could you have? Yes. But I trust that you have better control than that. In all honesty, I really expected for you to move and me to face-plant on the ground in my attempt. Aren't you supposed to be all stealthy and untouchable?"

"Hn." Sasuke's muscles relaxed minutely as his adrenaline from being ambushed from behind dissipated. "I suppose the threat level was too low for my senses to be at their highest. I'll be more vigilant of your random attacks next time."

"Will you be my friend again if I promise not to tell anyone that I got the drop on you?" Kiri asked with a smile.

"I didn't realize I was your friend to begin with," Sasuke commented as he turned around to face her again, arms crossed along his chest.

He watched with mild surprise at how her face fell at his words. Clearly she had little experience in masking her emotions, another thing they would have to work on if she were to survive here.

'_And just why do I keep noting these things she needs to work on like I'm going to be the one to help? Oh yeah…Aniki practically ordered me to be her friend and make sure that she didn't have any problems and that she wasn't left all lonely like. Not that I would actually befriend someone just because he told me to. It just…helped me open my mind to the idea. She seems much more fun than we thought she'd be. She's more tolerable than Naruto and Sakura at least'_

Sasuke was pulled out of his thoughts to hear her stuttering out what sounded maybe like an apology. Really, she sounded way to much like Hinata when she was younger – and occasionally still to this day – for him to try and make much sense of it, so he decided to spare himself the agony.

"Relax, I was just kidding. Consider it payback for practically molesting me."

His statement was promptly met with a pillow in his face, which he could have avoided, but decided not to expend the energy.

"I would like it if you kept my lapse of attention between us," he continued after the pillow was on the floor.

"I wouldn't have told anyways. Unless you start calling me Hime-Sama or being otherwise obnoxious, it will remain our secret," she assured him as she finally got out of bed.

"Good. Now, get ready. They are coming up the stairs now."

"How can you know that?"

"Chakra. Awareness of surroundings. Plus, I always know when Itachi is close by."

"Cool. I'll be out in a minute."

Sasuke nodded and exited to the front door which he swung open right as his brother and the rest of his cell – minus his old sensei- crested the stairs.

"Good morning, Aniki," Sasuke greeted his brother as the taller man approached him. The man reached out and flicked his brother lightly in the center of his forehead as he stood before him and replied, "Good morning, Otouto. Did everything go well last night?"

"Aa. No problems. She's very different then we assumed."

"Good boy." Itachi ran his hand through Sasuke's hair and down to rest of his neck as he led Sasuke outside, allowing the others to enter around them before shutting the door.

"Why are we outside the apartment, Aniki?"

"I had a conversation with father last night when I stopped by to inform them you would not be home and to pick up some of your things. He was quite angry. Apparently you missed a meeting you were scheduled to attend before leaving to escort the princess."

"Hn. I'm aware I missed the meeting."

"Why didn't you tell me father was trying to arrange a marriage between you and Ms. Hyuuga?"

"He's not trying to arrange a marriage, he succeeded. I told him I wasn't signing until I returned from this mission. It's not my fault he didn't listen and tried to get me to sign before."

"Why did you agree to such an arrangement, Sasuke?"

"It's my business, Itachi. Leave it alone," Sasuke growled as he tried to push past him and back into the room, only to find himself slammed harshly back into the wall.

"Is this a marriage you want?"

"Of course not," Sasuke scoffed, replying automatically.

"Then why. And why wasn't I informed? Why was all this going on why I was out on a mission and not shared with me when I was back in the village?"

"Nii-san, just leave it."

"Tell me know, Sasuke."

"It's either you or me. You have Sakura and you're very happy with her. Father and Hiashi have been negotiating an alliance between clans for a while, as you know. They finally reached an agreement, and Clan elders on both sides demanded a head family marriage. They want to see our bloodlines crossed. As next family head, Hinata can't marry a man from such a prominent clan, which means that Hanabi must marry into ours. Father was going to make the contract for you and her, but I convinced him that she was much too young for you. He's always pushing you to procreate and I noted to him that Hanabi will not be having children for a while. He still wasn't sure so I told him that having this experimental genetic crossing with the Head of the family could have consequences, he finally agreed to allow me to enter in the contract."

"You really are quite foolish sometimes, Otouto," Itachi practically whispered as he pulled his brother into an increasingly rare show of affection. "That man sometimes make me wish I had gone ahead and slaughtered everyone, save you."

Sasuke rolled his eyes as his brother pulled back from the hug to look down at him again. "I'll be fine, Aniki. Father has agreed to stay out of your own love life as long as I go through with this and you still take place as Clan head."

"You're not supposed to save me, I'm supposed to do things like this for you. I can't let you do this."

At these words Sasuke quickly switched their positions so that he was pushing his brother roughly into the wall.

"Shut up you stupid ass! All my life you've been doing things for me, so that I'll be happy and safe and not end up entirely socially inept like you! Despite Father's whining and meddling, I'd say you've succeeded so far. We both know that with the training you've given me I could've been an ANBU a long time ago. But I stayed with my cell and refused testing for higher rankings to stay with my general age level, so that I could make friends and succeed at things you couldn't until recently.

We could've been on the same ANBU cell by now, but you wanted me to wait to keep me from alienating people like you when you were younger. I'll admit, you were probably right and I'm glad I told Father no when he pushed for me to take early Chuunin and Jounin testing. This though, this I'm doing for you for your good, not mine. So, unless you've learned some rare form of magic or something equally unbelievable to make all this better, deal with it. I don't need you to always take care of me."

"You would prefer if I kept to myself now then. Stay out of your life. Fine," Itachi replied monotonously, pushing his brother away.

"I said I don't _need_ you to always take of me, not that I don't _want_ you to take care of me….sometimes."

"Hn. We will talk more of this later, Otouto," Itachi intoned as he reopened the apartment door and went to join the others in the living room, arm slung around Sasuke's shoulders.


End file.
